Racecourse celebrates 150 years

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/wales/north_east/7908113.stm

Version 0 of 1.

An exhibition is among events being staged to celebrate 150 years of racing at Bangor-on-Dee, near Wrexham.

Racing started on 25 February, 1859 and countless thousands of spectators have attended over the years.

Among its claims to fame is that jockey turned thriller writer Dick Francis counted it as his favourite course.

The exhibition includes information about the course's history, as well as pictures of some of the most memorable occasions and characters.

Among Wednesday's races will be the Maelor Beginners Steeplechase and the Poethlyn Novices Handicap Steeplechase.

Jeannie Chantler, course manager, said: "The meeting on Wednesday will be the first in a series of events throughout the year, including the 1859 Day on Saturday, 16 May."

The racecourse's origins can be traced back to 1858 when a race was held on meadows between the Hon Lloyd Kenyon and Richard Myddelton Biddulph of Chirk Castle, who were both members of Sir Watkin Williams Wynn's Hunt.A race card in 1905 cost punters 6d (sixpence)

The event attracted large crowds and proved such a success it was decided to hold similar races in the future for members of the hunt and farmers.

The first steeplechase was held on 25 February, 1859, over much the same course race-goers know today.

The race, over a distance of about three miles (4.8km), attracted 12 runners and was won by a six-year-old horse called Charley.

Bangor-on-Dee has had its ups and down over the decades, and in 1924 racing was cancelled due to foot and mouth.

In 1970, the autumn meeting had to be cancelled, partly due to cattle grazing the track.

One of Wednesday's races, the Poethlyn Novices Handicap Steeplechase, commemorates the horse bred by the racecourse's owner, Major Hugh Peel.

Poethlyn won the 1918 Grand National which was held at Gatwick racecourse after Aintree was taken over by the War Office.

On Wednesday, a free bus will take race-goers from Wrexham General Station at 1250 GMT, with the first race due to start at 1420 GMT.